Dear Editor,
From the Rubaiyat, Omar Khayyam scribes, “The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit, Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
The Stabroek Newspaper is in transit of bidding farewell as a force to reckon with after being a party of Guyana’s Fourth Estate since November 1986. The paper transitioned from a weekly to a daily production and has been a significant transience of news, views, interviews and previews.
The days are getting shorter as the beginning of the end approaches. The final curtain will be drawn on March 14th but not before the Fat Lady bellows a parting shot. Will this opera include a soprano that will be coloratura, lyrical or dramatic to bring down the house with a C sharp vocal range?
Stabroek News’ birth entered an era that saw the back of Burnham and the front of Hoyte when the voice of the opposition in any form or shape was being stifled, suppressed and shunned. The faithful Catholic Standard was reduced to less than a legal page while the feared Mirror was surviving on a few pages. Burnham had restricted print importation so as to smother freedom of speech and the press. The famous Caribbean Contact was forging its existence fearlessly in the street.
The Guyana Chronicle had full liberty to dominate the publishing world as the PNC mouthpiece filled with the propaganda of a dictator who shamelessly continued to rig election after election in order to retain power through the back door. Of course, all the law enforcing agencies were controlled by the PNC government and (armed forces) had no choice but to bow to the dictates of the day.
In today’s democracy, sometimes fragile, firm or fabricated, the information line between the government and the governed is the media (print, television, digital formats, radio, social media), through a forum to enlighten, educate and entertain, done via visual, virtual, digital or hard-copy print.
The Stabroek newspaper (not globally isolated), remains challenged in this highly sophisticated age which is technologically changing with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI). The modern default to on-line application and the digital platform are quickly becoming mandatory perquisites for the efficient and effective dissemination of information to satisfy a computerized generation turning to social media avenues for fingertip data.
Production cost for newspapers remains a nagging problem and a financial nightmare as Facebook, You Tube, WhatsApp, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest, X and Reddit often aggressively compete for user attention, cultural relevance but more so, for advertising revenue. Stabroek newspaper is allegedly experiencing a revenue crisis, outstanding debtors ledger, mounting expenses and a reduction in sales, not necessarily accrued and accumulated due to a lack of readership or marketing limitation.
In a social society that drinks, dances, discusses, drugs and drives itself into a dazed if not drunken stage way beyond midnight and into the wee hours of the morning, the topic of Stabroek newspaper’s relevance is often less debatable and gains less traction as a topic of interest to worry about.
But ardent readers, reporters, writers, subscribers and newspaper lovers with an open mind and not a close door approach to any printed material ascribing to national, regional and international information, will certainly view the departure of the Stabroek newspaper as an unfortunate void and a necessary vacuum to be filled, perhaps, replaced.
Regardless of its opinion, Stabroek newspaper did provide a space to vent, protest, endorse, appraise, applaud, congratulate, criticize, condemn, condone or concur, no matter which side of the fence you’re boxed in and even if you’re sitting on top of the fence. It is a matter of concern for the literary world which values its context and content while serving a purpose not necessarily aligned to everyone’s likes or dislikes.
Stabroek News is conservatively reserved as an enthusiastically pro government appraiser with accolades for positivity but renowned as a generous reflector for negativity. A number of contributors are either restricted, controlled or curtailed. It’s interesting to know that Reporters Without Borders (RSF), attested to the United States being ranked 57th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index with a score of 65.487. RSF listed eight areas where the US Government has restrained their mobility from places where they had previously enjoyed free movement.
There were, are and will be continuous and vigorous post mortems on the significant role of the Stabroek Newspaper, its value, purpose, rationale, analysis and its life itself on the journey of its development, deployment and destiny. Will the makers and framers be conclusive or inconclusive? Will the slow but painful death of the pen be mourned, marveled or multiplied?
The Stabroek Newspaper surfaced, survived and sustained a credible life in an incredible country while serving as a watchdog over agencies, molding opinions, accommodating society and providing an alternate introspect as it explores, examines and evaluates a meaning deeper than just headlines.
George Bernard Shaw did believe that the role of the free press was, “criticism, criticism and more criticism.” Nelson Mandella stated that the media is a “mirror through which we can see ourselves as others perceive us, warts, blemishes and all”. Martin Luther King Jr. regarded the freedom of the press as a “fundamental constitutional right, often linking it with the right to protest, and utilized it to expose, educate and force accountability.” As a voice for the voiceless, Mahatma Gandhi reflected, “The sole aim of journalism should be service.”
Does the Stabroek Newspaper qualify or subscribe to these noble aspirations? You be the judge, jury and executioner.
Yours respectfully,
Jai Lall